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I didn't really pay attention to sacks and penalties against the Rams, well except that one BS holding call that Steratore and that bummy ref crew called on Jake. I thought Jake was brilliant against the Rams, especially as the game moved on. The Rams clearly didn't fear the Fins passing game, stopped the running game and were barreling down on the OLine and Tannehill and Jake was winning all of his battles and several times when the DE would make a move, Jake would counter to ensure Tannehill didn't get touched. I put a focus on him during the game and I liked what I saw. I'm expecting him to have a great 2nd half of the season.

For the 6 games, I have to wonder if some of Long's problems are affected by Cog struggling to fit. We all know that the OL has to play together, and is somewhat joined at the hip. Any thoughts?

The game was a mess. We had 1 first down that came on our first drive and then not another first down until our 4th drive when we scored the first TD of the game.

Originally Posted by Kdawg954

I didn't really pay attention to sacks and penalties against the Rams, well except that one BS holding call that Steratore and that bummy ref crew called on Jake. I thought Jake was brilliant against the Rams, especially as the game moved on. The Rams clearly didn't fear the Fins passing game, stopped the running game and were barreling down on the OLine and Tannehill and Jake was winning all of his battles and several times when the DE would make a move, Jake would counter to ensure Tannehill didn't get touched. I put a focus on him during the game and I liked what I saw. I'm expecting him to have a great 2nd half of the season.

I believe any man's finest hour - his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle...Victorious

These are facts, and Long is most definitely helping RT develop by his pass protection. He is sucking in run blocking, and not as dominant in pass protect. He is likely to do better but, for now, it is what it is.

Here's a list of 10 LT's playing better than Long, in no particular order. Clady from Denver, Brown from Houston, Staley from SF, Solder from NE, Thomas from Cleve, Ferguson from the Jets, Whitworth from Cinci, Kalil from Minny, Roos from Tenn, And Williams from Wash.

hoops scoops 2012 season ..."in 2014 ryan tannehill etches his name in stone amongst the games elite qbs"..."ryan tannehill and andrew luck will carry the afc for the next decade plus the way peyton manning and tom brady have this last decade plus" for the love of god get a real freaking mike already!!!

If you want to talk about underrated, you have to talk about our secondary play - our front 4 is getting great pressure which helps the secondary a lot, but Sean Smith and Nolan Carroll have been doing great at the corner positions.

Moreover, Rashad Jones has been outstanding at stopping the run and making some plays in the secondary. He has been far from perfect, as he has been responsible for a fair share of the chunk yards TE's have been getting off us, but he has been a playmaker. He has stuffed runs at the line and done fairly well in the secondary in his first season as the full-time starter. Chris Clemons has been mediocre but at least hasn't been responsible for *too many* big plays.

I think our secondary unit from a coaching, personnel, and performance have all been better than expected.

I'll keep it to just players because I don't know enough about what coaches/personnel and others do and I agree leaving Ireland out of this is for the best. There are enough threads on him already.

Underrated

Pat Devlin - Just Reading threads from the Matt Moore trade speculation, there is some people who think Devlin is just some kind of fill in 3rd stringer that is far less capable than Matt Moore. Pat Devlin is a west coast QB by design. Quick release, Accurate, mobile enough . . . he needed the right system and the right coaching to get the most out of him and he is getting that now. 3rd stringers in preseason or not, you saw some of the command that he had of this offense in those games and that wasn't a fluke. I can understand being apprehensive about if Tannehill goes down Devlin won't be ready and the experienced Matt Moore is the obvious choice . . . but I truly believe come next year he is going to be a solid backup to Tannehill.

Anthony Fasano - Really a complete TE. Sure he isn't the best blocking TE in the league, but he's a solid blocking TE . . .and obviously he isn't the best receiving TE, but he can get the job done when called upon. As much as we cry for upgrades at TE and to even suggest "cutting" Fasano because he plays bad against the Falcons . . . he is clearly our best TE and we should be looking to find a compliment ala David Martin 2008 instead of trying to replace him. He's looking like a definite resign if you ask me.

Cameron Wake - Well I don't have to tell Dolfans this, but Cameron Wake is the best pass rusher in the NFL. He may not lead the league in sacks but he has graded out since last year as the most effective pass rusher factoring in sacks, pressures, holding calls and QB hits. When I can see people make polls on Mario Williams or Cam Wake, and people say Mario Williams . . . . there is no doubt they don't understand the force Cam Wake is. Jeff Ireland (I had to bring his name up . . . doh) got this one right . . . in fact, it's his shining star on his resume if you ask me (though Tannehill could challenge that soon). From his first contract to his second contract . . . excellent deals . . . and I don't even like Jeff Kudos to JI.

Jonathan Martin - He was god awful in preseason and considered a disappointment from the first preseason game . . . but this kid has made HUGE strides as the season keeps progressing. Solid feet and a solid pass protector and we are even running tough behind him and Jerry on that right side. I think many of us felt he was a year away from being solid, but he is doing well right now and I'll tell you what, if Jake Long doesn't get resigned . . . Jonathan Martin will be the biggest reason why. Sure he's not Jake Long but he fits this scheme better than Jake and he's going to be a solid pass protector in this league.

Overrated

Lamar Miller - Not his fault really but it truly isn't fair to think that this guy can take over for Reggie Bush. Hell Daniel Thomas was out and we barely saw the kid . . . when Thomas is in, he gets plenty of burn . . . why is that? I dunno, when I watched him at the U, I saw a guy who would go down easy, get constant gains of 1 yard and then out of nowhere hit the homerun. He struggles in pass protection and maybe he isn't picking things up as quick as he needs to, to be a guy who can spell your starting RB. He has alot of potential but when I see threads like "Lamar Miller > Trent Richardson" . . . I have to snicker a bit.
Jake Long - Hard to be overrated when you are a top 5 LT in the game. We still have not seen him at his fullest potential as a run blocker and he can struggle with the elite speed rushers. He'll probably command the highest contract ever given to a LT in league history, or somewhere in that neighborhood and he truly has been average this year. He's a notoriously slow starter and I thought he played well in the Rams game so I expect him to turn it on barring injury.

Matt Moore - He was brilliant at times last year but I don't think this new offense fits him at all. He looked awful in preseason, and despite the positive comments on Hard Knocks about his leadership . . . David Garrard clearly was ahead of him prior to getting injured and Tannehill just marched right on by him as well. Hell it wouldn't surprise me if Pat Devlin was ahead of him in the coaches mind (not on the depth chart for the public to see tho).

Ritchie Incognito - Love his intensity and for a guy who had no business being placed as the LG from day one (injury issues and lack of confidence in other players) he probably has performed better than anybody could have expected him to. However for this new ZBS we are running, I think it is about time to start finding a better replacement for Ritchie. He's sluggish, his feet are meh and he's just not a good fit. I've been saying this for years, or atleast attempt to move him to RG . . . but Ritchie finds a way to keep sticking. We should dominate running left, especially in short yardage situations and we just have not been able to do that. In fantasy world if we could move Pouncey over to LG and bring over his brother to play center . . . that line would be dominate in this system.

Mixed Feelings

Brian Hartline and Davone Bess - Before coming into this season you really had to stress how "underrated" Miami's first options at WR were. The notion everywhere is that Miami had "nothing" at WR and that simply wasn't true. They may not have legitimate #1 guys, but they had guys who can help move the offense down the field. Bess is one of the most dependable guys in the league, especially on 3rd downs, great route runner and has been extremely consistent his entire tenure in the NFL. Hartline is a guy that deceives alot of folks, solid hands, solid route runner, pretty good speed and makes tough catches. Where my feelings become mixed are when I watch a guy like Victor Cruz add that "explosiveness" from the slot WR position . . . something that Davone Bess just doesn't have. In today's NFL, you almost require your slot WR to be a guy who can put up #1 numbers as QB's will exploit that nickel CB and having a guy that can ake a 5 or 10 yard route the distance after the catch is crucial. It's not a coincedence that the 2 best slot WR's in the game met up in the Super Bowl last year. With Hartline you really see how limited he can be as a #1 when teams actually pay attention to him. He's a very average WR, which is fine, but truly is out of his element and needs that #1 type of WR opposite of him to relive him of some of that pressure so he can continue to make plays as a #2 or #3 or even #4 option in the offense. This is why this upcomming draft is so crucial in regards to skill players . . . you don't need to just fill holes, you need to improve the overall talent of your skill players on offense . . . because even though guys like Bess and Hartline are very likeable and our best options at WR right now, they are limited in their capabilities and having a plethora of options to choose from to help make this offense go will only aid in making this team an eventual and consistent Super Bowl contender and make Ryan Tannehill a top tier QB.

Trent Richardson is going to be a big old bust and Lamar Miller WILL have a better career.

If you're talking public perception...Fasano and Randy Starks come to mind.

I think Dansby is a bit underrated too, considering how steady he is for the defense and how important he is. Granted, he's not PAID like an underrated player. But playing ILB the last few years under the old system tends to make guys go under the radar. ILB is one of the least glamorous positions. He can stand out a little more at MLB like he did at Arizona, but he's pretty important to your team.

Cameron Wake is not underrated. Everyone knows he's the team's best pass rusher and one of the better ones in the league. But he's def not the best pass rusher in the NFL though like the OP was trying to say. JJ Watt, Von Miller,Demarcus Ware and Jared Allen are certainly better. So is JPP despite his slow start..well, slow for him anyways.